Friday, July 2, 2010

Feast your eyes on this tidbit. The following is a blog posting made by the Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee today with regard to a blog posting made by Ed Woods of the No Parole Peltier Association. ---

"The United States did not follow a policy of genocide; it did try to find a just solution to the Indian problem. The consistent idea was to civilize the Indians, incorporate them into the community, make them part of the melting pot. That it did not work, that it was foolish, conceited, even criminal, may be true, but that doesn’t turn a well-meant program into genocide."

A former agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Ed Woods--who has made it his life's mission to prevent Leonard Peltier's release from prison--recently had the audicity to use the above quote to refute Leonard's use of the word "genocide" with regard to Indigenous Peoples.

For your edification, Ed:

Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group.

A legal definition of "genocide" is found in the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide:

"...any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

-- killing members of the group;-- causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;-- deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life, calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;-- imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; and-- forcibly transferring children of the group to another group."

Perhaps you'd prefer the term "ethnic cleansing" better, Ed? A 1993 United Nations Commission defined it specifically as "the planned deliberate removal from a specific territory, persons of a particular ethnic group, by force or intimidation, in order to render that area ethnically homogenous."

Simply, denying historical facts about the ongoing genocide of Indigenous Peoples is just not acceptable.

Shame on you, Ed.

---

We concur. But we're not surprised by this man's comments. We've heard other agents involved with the Peltier case refer to Indians as "conquered people" before. That's their justification for the "Reign of Terror" on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota in the 1970s. How interesting it is that folks sworn to uphold the U.S. Constitution also think it's appropriate to steal peoples' languages, culture... all they know... and all they are. This former agent also had the audacity to make a "come to Jesus" speech to Leonard Peltier (who isn't a Christian) during his parole hearing last summer. Keep it up, Ed. We love it when you show your true colors.

All writings that comply with our mission and goal will be considered for publication on our Web site and/or blog. However, you should know that submission of an article or essay does not guarantee publication.Our aim is to provide complete, accurate, and timely commentary on the Peltier case. Authors agree, therefore, that Friends of Peltier will make revisions we deem necessary prior to publication—in particular to ensure accuracy. Submissions also are subject to a copyedit to ensure overall quality, i.e., to correct errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.We insist on certain standards being met. We offer this Code of Ethics for your consideration.We also accept creative writings, e.g., poetry, which will be published after a simple copyedit, as necessary. Otherwise, literary art will be published as submitted.No matter the type of submission, the author retains copyright and our publishing rights are non-exclusive. We do, however, retain the copyright on the compilation of writings on our Web site and blog. In addition, our Web site and blog are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International License.Reproduction here of published material constitutes a 'fair use' of copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit for research and educational purposes.

Disclaimer

Postings to this blog are made for the purpose of information dissemination. Views expressed may not reflect the views of either Leonard Peltier or of "Friends of Peltier," and posting of information doesn't imply endorsement.

Friends of Peltier was founded in the United States in early 2007 and is an independent international coalition in support of Leonard Peltier and his freedom. We wholeheartedly seek harmony, cohesion—solidarity, not discord. All persons of good heart who wish to work towards the freedom of Leonard Peltier are welcome in our circle.

NOTE: If you receive email correspondence from Friends of Peltier, it's due to the fact that you registered for our mailing list at some time since its inception in 2007. It is a double opt-in list and therefore your registration can not have happened by error or have been initiated by anyone else, i.e., our contacts with you do not constitute spam. You are, however, welcome to unsubscribe from our list at any time.